Amazon Contextual Product Ads

Friday, October 17, 2008

Hello again fellow truckstars! It's Week 41 and.............................you're on the road with the original florida kid !

Grandma, Barbie, Pup the wonder dog, and the whole gang here at the ranch give a shout out and a big cowboy howdy "Hey!".........

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN'- Alright grab a cup of Grandma's famous cowboy coffee, an ashtray and strap your ass in, this week's edition is going to get bumpy....In scanning over the mostly boring trucking news headlines I ran across some news articles, blogs and posts both "for" and "against" the mexican trucking fiasco..."Thank God" the House voted down by a huge landslide, the furtherance of it, (meaning, issuing full U.S. access to mexican trucks via operating authority) citing not just understaffed inspection personel, inspection equipment at the border locations, and the changes made to the original standards that should be imposed(meaning, in a secrective new program the mexicans are being allowed to apply and run with little scrutiny from the DOT), pay de-valuation and future job losses of American drivers.I'm not sure, neither is anyone else it appears, why the federal government is pushing so hard for this thing when it is abundantly clear the American people, not just organized labor and truck drivers, do not want this thing to happen....... economists and labor analysts all agree that not only will it devalue(it already has....) the pay scale which is already freakishly low, but in the next few years as American co's have their mexican manufactured products shipped back across by cross-border mexican trucking co's who work for a fraction of the pay an American driver needs to make, many, some say millions, of American drivers will lose their jobs....just like those in the steel and auto industries, not to mention textile manufacturing(guess where Levi's went after they fired 7,000 people a couple of years ago?....) The trend and agenda is very clear......the first mexican truck rolled across the border with a DOT authority on Saturday the 8th of Sept. headed for South Carolina, with many more to follow if the pro mexican forces get their way, putting American drivers out of work. The president says he will veto the House vote.......the House says they'll fight the veto....When you read a blog or an article written by an American trucking co. spokesman or an American driver/blogger saying that this is all a good thing and we should all just be friends, and that the facts are being distorted by organized labor and others(an overwhelming majority from both political parties against mexican trucking)...you have to wonder what interests they really have in the whole thing(there are many)......AND.....how can they serve their own greedy agendas knowing that many of their American brothers and sisters will be getting paid less and end up losing their jobs because of yet another cheap labor source? I've read some of the "pro mexican trucking" blogs and articles written by the few American truckers and often published by American based magazine media co's that also have an interest and that are for this thing. WHY? HOW? Because they are connected to the major carriers involved(who have their own lobbyists....) and that have been involved in orchestrating this thing since the late 80's. I find them, and so do the experts involved, seriously lacking in the true facts they accuse those "against" mexican trucking of using, and more importantly, conviniently leaving out what connection they have to it....most of them stand to profit heavily, even if that means Americans lose jobs....(yeah, so what else is new?).......their argument is that it makes products cheaper here in the U.S., but the business and economic facts say otherwise.......hmmmmm............Whatever the connection is truckstars, you can bet your ass.......IT'S ABOUT MONEY...and the cold brutal reality behind the scenes in the American trucking industry is one of greed and betrayal.....this truth IS now a reality, and WILL be borne out in the coming years as we will, no doubt, face another and perhaps the biggest labor crisis ever.......More on this in future editions as I put all the facts together from interviews with the major players in this issue.....for now truckstars - Please keep up the pressure on our elected officials..here's the tools you'll need to do it; and don't forget to THANK those on our side! The battle is NOT over....(Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Ranking Member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Rep. John Duncan (R-TN), Ranking Member on the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.Big THANKS to the Sierra Club and the Teamsters! OOIDA too!Dan Little from the uscattlehaulers.com and the OOU....we love ya over here!To find your Representative - www.house.gov - ( just enter your zip) To find your Senators - www.senate.gov - (scroll to your home state) Write them often, tell your friends to write them often......when? Right NOW !Don't forget to think about tryin' to help out an abused kid...every community has em'..... ................they need heroes and truckers are heroes...still.HEALTH DEPARTMENT- (next week)TRUCKSTAR TECH- (next week)Before anything else happens I hope we can all get together on a National Truckers Prayer Day.....the bible says - "if God is for us - then who can be against us?" Do you think for one second that God would be on the side of some mindlessly greedy, earth raping corporation? Do you? I bet He's wondering why 2 or more have not gathered in HIS name and asked for HIS intervention.........Take a minute and PRAY, with me, for our troops around the world - truckstars....whether you agree with the war or not - I think we can ALL agree that these are OUR men and women over there, our KIDS, and, the politics involved is way over my head, not to mention the idea that there's probably a lot going on we DON'T know about, so......and let's not forget about GOD in this equation....it's HIS will I want done, not some profit crazed business man's, not the government's, and damn sure not my own, I'm just not capable..... ..........how 'bout you? You in?Tis' the season for Chuck Wagon Cook-offs!! (http://www.chuckwagon.org/),check their site for the 08' schedule,and be sure to check out (http://www.cowboy.org/ )Okay truckstars - I gotta go - I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul....(truck payments....know what I mean vern?) So until next week - Remember - NO load and NO paycheck is worth dyin' for !Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry....... God hears prayers, trust me - I know. As always, I want you to remember - I love ya' and I'm prayin' for ya' ! So - Play nice, drive safe and pull it on home...........Saddle up.....let's ride!.......... ......you're on the road with the original florida kid...............we gown..........

"On the Road with the original florida kid" Week 42Hello again fellow truckstars! It's Week 42 and.......you're on the road with the original florida kid....

Grandma, Barbie, Pup the wonder dog and the whole gang here at the ranch want to say a big cowboy howdy "HEY!"

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN'- Alright, you know the drill...grab an ashtray, a cup of Grandma's famous cowboy coffee and pull up a chair, there's more on the front porch by the door. Seems every week more and more people come over to sit around the table and talk about stuff goin' on, but that's okay that's what we're here for..Well, I've been sittin' here on my butt for 4 weeks now waitin' on boat freight to pick up, but....and it's not just the price of fuel going up and down like it's on a pogo stick either...(yeah and that's another thing...).. fuel prices jumping up and down like they're on a pogo stick(yeah and that's another thing....), the economy in general is what I guess we're talkin' about here.Like you, truckstars, I'm no economist but I can read and I have ears, so when I read about how, and hear about why the economy is in the shape it's in, I too believe that the problems go back a ways, even before the Bush people got in there. Now before everyone starts pointin' fingers and sayin' this and sayin' that, I'm going to tell you....I'm not playin' it like that. Why? Because I don't want to act and sound like the jokers runnin' the show on both sides of the isle acting like teenagers playin' stab tag every day over stupid stuff, with my future and the American future in their hands...I'm not doin' it...we don't have time to figure it out and I don't know if at this point it matters, other than figuring out what NOT to do over again....WHAT MATTERS...is that we, as Americans take responsibility for the direction and future of this nation and move forward with a better sense of our moral compass(if we still have one, you watch the tv and you wonder....) and more hands on involvement.....much moreBarbie's got that strained nervous look in her eyes, I can see it when she looks at me. Grandma was lookin' out the kitchen window the other day, the way she does when I know she's thinkin' about Grandpa, and the tears were streamin' down her face....then, mine too...I know it wasn't just for us either, lots of folks we know have hit hard times...people - good, everyday decent working people losin' homes, businesses, cars, land, and havin' to give up things they love just to try to pay bills and put food on the table...seems like we hear of someone every day losin' their rig or home.........even the third world knows you can't keep sending jobs out of the country and hope the economy will survive!We may be next, I don't know..GOD HELP US....GOD HELP US ALL...PLEASEThis mortgage thing, the AIG bailout, all this business crisis stuff isn't killin' the economy, they're signs of an economy in serious trouble, and I know you don't need me to tell you that, but, I am sayin' that I truly believe we, as a people and as a nation, we need to take more responsibility for our government and economy. I can't tell you how sick and tired I am watching the politicians on tv fighting and mudslingin' like little kids... meanwhile the country is being ransacked by big business and anyone else who can afford to own their own politician.....we must look like idiots to the rest of the world...seriously... There isn't even anyone left for the corporations in this country to screw(except themselves but they're too smart for that, and besides, it hurts...)...man, I'm in the wrong business...how cool is it to run a multi-billion dollar company into the ground screwin' millions of people into the poor house and then gettin' bailed out so they can do it all over again....(do ya think the CEO of AIG has missed a paycheck?....I never got roses, a phone call, hell, he even skipped the foreplay)....what the hell man???And where does the government get off tellin' me...not askin'...but tellin' me that I'm payin' for it! WHAT??? (tell me - who works for who.....again?)Meanwhile, I'm sittin' here lookin' at a pile of bills, (including my 8 days over due truck payment), that I can't pay because freight's low, fuel's high and no one's movin' boats...and I know I'm not the only one...I hear from a lot of drivers who are in the same boat...(the one that's sinking, that is....) and if I read one more trucking blogger say that everything is fine and we should quit complaining and it's just a temporary slump, we've had them before, it'll level off, watch your expenses.....and all that bullcrap, I'm going to rip my hair out(after it grows in.....again).

Those of you who've raised teenagers know, most of em', most of the time, you can't trust...as kids I mean....you want to but you know you can't...you only hope they don't burn the damn house down while you're on a run....it's kind of the same thing when you talk about our so called leaders...you want to trust em', but you know ya can't....and this time..........the house IS on fire.......hellOOOooo...

I bet the CEO of AIG gets a paycheck this week, the President of the U.S., the Rep's and Senators, they're all gettin' paid this week...I'm not...are you ?If someone works for you, and ruins your business...aren't you supposed to fire them?? Voting is how we do that…….And here's another thought: Why don't we ever boycott the products of companies that have moved out of the country putting thousands of people out of work just to increase their profits...Wal-Mart spends 18-20 billion a year in China...Levi's, the jeans co. fired 7,000 people a few years ago and moved just over the mexican border, like Ralph Lauren and dozens of other co's....Ford and GM are closing plant after plant...textiles - are there any made here still?...There has to come a point when you realize you're cutting your own throat....why can't our leaders and big business figure that out? Even the greediest thievin' person or company has to come to their senses sooner or later....right?Truckstars, I don't have the answers....I wish I did...but I can tell you one thing...you can't run a business, or anything for that matter, and not ever show up to the office, especially when the people we've hired can't do it....we're going to have to figure out how to get more involved....not in politics....but in government.......remember the phrase - "by the people and for the people"...?Now you know what it really means....I do....now.....What'cha think truckstar?

We know your support and participation had an effect on this mexican trucking thing...the President might veto the House's vote to cut off money but they say they'll fight it.....so let em' know how you feel......I registered to vote today....you have a few more days maybe 10 or so before the 29 day cut off...just Google, enter your home state name before the 2 words "voter registration" and it'll tell you where you can register in your area, or offer an online option where you enter the info and it makes up an appl. for you then you print it, sign it and mail it or take it to the supervisor of elections office near where you live.

TRUCKSTAR TECH- Check out CNN.comLive and also www.google.com/mobile/gmm - this is a Google program you can load into your phone to give you a gps and a map and direction program, for you techies out there you can also side load it in directly from your computer. Google's new Android phone is cool and most of the cell phone experts like it but it doesn't do nearly enough for me and I'm not payin' for a cell phone AND mobile internet....if I have to choose it'll be mobile internet......where I go my laptop goes......I'm still trying to fall in love with the new breed of mini-laptops, like the new Acer Aspire One, or the much anticipated Dell Inspiron 10", but I really haven't seen one yet that has the juice I need while I'm on the road, and be careful the smaller ones have screen size adjustment issues, get at least a 10" screen.Skype, Windows Live and Yahoo Live all have free pc to pc calling phone programs now and all 3 have video too if your laptop has a webcam - you can talk to and see your family at home( or anyone else...) for free! It only takes a minute to load in your pc or laptop. I like the new swivel screen laptops with lots of usb ports, the new air cards for mobile internet come in usb modem, they look kind of like a usb flash drive, and also a 4 or more gig ram dual core, HD or Blue-Ray screen, built in web cam and mic( and make sure they have their own controls...), although a headset is cheap, (they even make bluetooth headsets with a usb plug for handsfree driving while talking). Asus, Sony, Dell, Hp...everyone seems to be making a good laptop just get one with the features you want or need. I'll probably end up with AT&T for my mobile web co, they have the new usb air cards and good connection nationwide, but I'll probably get a new laptop with embedded 3G broadband so I won't even need an air card. Also check out this website - www.fancast.com - for tv shows and movies you can watch for free.....I need a 10 pixel digital camera with a 200-400 wide zoom lens for photos.I'm also sticking with XP for now too....Keep in mind that Sony and Apple have the highest rated customer support, Sony's best help is their phone support, Toshiba is also not bad with customer phone support. Gateway is terrible and they want you to pay by the minute for help, it's a ripoff. Getting some of the new app's to work is tough even for experts and Customer Support should be a factor in deciding which brand and model you buy.

THE HEALTH DEPT- This week’s Health Dept. is going to be short because I want you to get a book called “The Bible Diet” written by a doctor named Richard H. Mays, M.D. Dr. Mays has written another “bible diet book” like “The Makers Diet” by Jordan Rubin but I believe this one is a good buy and filled with the info I want you to have for everyday food buying and eating habits and why…..you can buy it online from Alibris Books for a discounted price, here’s the link, just enter The Bible Diet in the search line:http://www.alibris.com/

Remember truckstars the condition of your body is a direct result of what you eat, the better you eat the healthier you’ll be. Don’t be discouraged by the endless stream of info on diets and what to eat, what not to eat. Arm yourself with a good foundational knowledge of food and diet throughout human history and it’ll give you a fix on where we are now and how you too can eat well and be healthy. You don’t have to be a believer to read and learn what’s in the “Bible Diet” books, but don’t discount it either if you haven’t read one of them…Okay? Don’t forget to think about whole grains and raw veg’s in your diet!

Don’t forget about abused kids…..

That’s it for this week truckstars!If you’re a prayin’ person, Please pray for our nation, the world and the lost…REMEMBER – No load and NO paycheck is worth dyin’ for…..Don’t forget! I love ya and I’m prayin’ for ya!So play nice, drive safe and pull it on home………

Saddle up…..let’s ride!……you’re on the road with the original florida kid…we gown…..

Monday, October 13, 2008

"On the Road with the original florida kid" Week 43Hello again fellow truckstars! It's Week 43 and....... …you're on the road with the original florida kid...

Grandma, Barbie, Pup the Wonder Dog and the whole gang here at the ranch say a big cowboy howdy "HEY!"...

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN'- Okay, so grab a chair, an ashtray and a cup of Grandma's famous cowboy coffee and let's get this party started......Grandma went to the doctor last week, she's been having serious back and leg problems. She needs to have surgery, as we expected, but she says she won't go, not now, with things the way they are, she says....Barbie is trying to talk her into it and it's easy to tell where Barbie got her stubborness from....I'm tellin' ya... I have to tell you truckstars that this week I'm more than a little upset to hear of, yet more O/O's losing their rigs, and hell, I could be next...I finally got a boat haul from Maine to Ft. Lauderdale but I had to dead head up there to get the boat, a big boat, and bring it back down here to Key Largo. The money wasn't that great but anything right now will help...I think......It seems even in boat hauling, the brokers, and whoever else is involved, know they can lowball and get away with it...although in his defense the guy I get a lot of hauls from, I'm sure, is getting lowballed too... wish I could lowball the fuel co's and my insurance co....and the power co. and the cable co. and the phone co. and the grocery store and the IRS and the people I make my truck payment to and everyone else I have to hand my ever shrinking paycheck to....I don't like feeling so desperate all the time....I need to understand something...I read a lot, I mean a lot, I read about all the advances in truck design and aerodynamics, logistics and supply chain management, I see tons of money being spent on super new truck stops and freight hubs as well as load tracking and communication systems, I see success stories of famous trucking company owners, I see lots of people patting themselves on the back and saying this and saying that...I see and hear about billions of dollars flying around the trucking industry...and I hear a lot about "bottom lines", (business men like to use that phrase), but the bottom line, the real f 'n bottom line is that I don't see any of it, or at least not enough of it.......going to the truck drivers..... I can't tell you how many guys and gals, good, safe drivers who keep their expenses in check, who still can't pay their bills that I've spoken to and heard of, all across the country...how can it be that, for 50 years, drivers have been routinely robbed of fuel surcharges and no one, until recently, has done a goddamn thing about it....I'm trying to understand these things... I had a great conversation with Dan Little from the new OOU, last night, and during our long talk he said something to me I realized that I really had forgotten. He said "We have to remember that, yes, we have families at home, most of us, but out here on the road, as truckers, we're a family too.... and in spite of the trials and tribulations of our industry, in spite of the blatant abuse and exploitation we suffer, (even from within our own industry), in spite of the hardships and Thankless efforts in any kind of weather, we, out here on the road, are a FAMILY."...(if you've ever met a veteran, old school trucker then you know what I mean)... I know truckstars, I know, it's so easy to forget that, I do too sometimes...(that is, until I need help or advice or someone out there on the road to lean on) but we have to remember this....always....Dan also said something else to me that I will never forget - "I tell guys all the time that we are professionals, and we have to act like professionals, all the time, and not forget that we represent each other, seems like lots of guys have forgotten that."Often there is great wisdom in the simplest of statements.... Listen to me truckstars....we all know how important this job we do is to the country we love so much, and right now maybe it's not so loveable, but what I'm trying to say is that - without the American Truck Driver....everything stops, and I mean everything! The marine and the rail industries cannot do what we do....from the flat bedders to the livestock haulers to the dry vans, to the tankers and the haz mat guys and gals, to the super haulers, to the road service and truckstop people(I call them “diesel culture” support industry…)....even those wild ass "ice road truckers". We are a family that helps provide a vital service to the greatest nation in the history of the world, but that's clearly NOT how the world sees us....and I wonder why....don't you?I for one, believe we matter....I believe we matter more than the way we get treated and are thought of....and I also believe we can look to ourselves for the solution...What kind of a world is it that a trucker delivers goods and food to a store that he can't afford to walk around to the front of and go into and buy the very products he just delivered for himself or his family! What the hell man..... The mexican trucking thing, the trucc act, fuel tax and surcharge legislation, operating costs....these things and more, affect us all, both on the road AND at home, we know that, and just like a family at home tries to stick together, WE out here on the highways of America need to stick together too! Lately, especially if you listen to the cb for 5 minutes, that damn sure does not appear to be the case....yeah maybe it's the hardships on the job, operating costs, or stress at home, the economy, the government, greedy big business and corrupt politicians....but these things have been around for 5,000 years or more....and it doesn't have to tear us apart as a labor force...not now, when even the trucking co's love the fact that there is absolutely NO real organization or voice for the drivers.... Do I have the answers? No, I don't, but I still know better than just to let my future and my family's future ride like a dice throw in a rigged game....and so do you....that's why I'm voting, I'm contacting my legislators regularly, and I've joined the OOU(owner operators united).....I'm getting involved, if you haven't heard about it yet, the OOU that is...stay tuned...you will....I'm not just going to call myself a professional....I'm going to act like one...how 'bout you truckstar?

THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT- Okay, so now you’re taking whole food organic vitamins….right? You’ve found a good place to buy the MetRx protein bars and you are drinking a good protein shake…I like the Labada and Muscle Milk Protein Drinks. Do you know how clean your colon is? Before you roll your eyes, listen to this…the colon is where most of the food nutrition absorption occurs, it’s kinda like havin’ a dirty sludgy carburetor and clogged fuel lines(your arteries and veins) and expecting power from your motor, it’s not going to happen….Think about this for a minute with me truckstars….what has your diet for the past few weeks and months been like? Chances are you’ve eaten a lot of fatty foods, maybe even trans fatty foods and empty carbs like white bread and rolls, donuts and stuff, right? Well this kind of stuff creates a very heavy, pasty sludge in the colon and intestines and pretty much suffocates your body of any nutrition and vitamins you might take in (when you actually do eat a good meal of lean broiled meat, chicken or fish and dark leafy greens and fresh steamed veg’s) and I really really really really want you to think about flushing the “pipes” down there….How? Roughage or ruffage..there are lots of different kinds of roughage…did you know Triscuits(yeah I know, it’s crazy…..) are a great form of roughage? Anything whole grain as close to natural form as possible….you’ve heard of whole grain breads, cereals, muffins…all that kind of stuff needs to be in your diet every single day to keep the “pipes” clean in an on-going way. That’s why all the health nuts scream about whole grains all the time, well the amount of vitamins in them is the major reason but the roughage is the natural way to clean the colon. I also use whole psyillium husk…it’s really good way to, well, kind of like taking a bottle brush and running it through your lower unit…Truckstars, you know I would never steer you wrong, and, you have to take this stuff seriously, you really have to. I want you to get a book called “The Bible Diet” written by a doctor named Richard H. Mays. I really like this guy, he’s a Tennessee doctor who’s been around for a long time. Amazon, Alibris and other book sources have it and I think it’ll be the second most important book you ever read…and I’m deadly serious….your health will never improve, your blood pressure and your cholesterol will never go down until you get with the program of regularly running the kinds of grains and fruits and veg’s through your system that you need to be. Even the men’s E.D. drugs are designed to create the kind of blood pressure needed to cause an erection because the vascular system can’t because of congestion…..it’s all tied into what you eat, and when you drink a caffeine drink on top of that it’s like trying to pump more water pressure through a pinched hose……. Okay? What d’ya say? Are ya with me?

TRUCKSTAR TECH- I’m sure it’s no secret to any of us that, well it seems like every day another area on the map is outlawing idling of a big rig….Whatever you may think about this, the fact of the matter is that in the near future it may be illegal nationwide, and, I would count on that happening….Aux power units are going to be a part of your future and for me, I like the idea of the Cummins diesel powered unit, it’ll run off the same fuel your truck runs off of and I don’t know of too many other co’s that know more about motors and power than Cummins, start your search there www.cummins.com or try www.starclassinc.comThis is something we need to plan for….and save for…Okay now onto my favorite tech subject – Mobile Technology….lots of people are going with these new “Smartphones” and although I would love to have one of Googles new Android smartphones I think because of other app’s and media we like to use that somewhere in the middle of mini-laptops and smartphones will the technology end up in the next 2 years or less. They’ve really come a long way. Sprint I think has the ball in their court right now with the $99 a month all-in-one plan, but mobile unlimited web access with an air card is cheaper and in my way of thinking, more versatile. Or example, with a built in web cam and mic and a free Skype.com or Windows Live connection you can speak to and see anyone else with the same thing for free! Sure you can put lots of movies and music on a flash drive and just plug er’ into your mini-laptop. Me? I still want a big screen and the juice of a serious laptop with Blue Ray and/or whatever is beyond HD, with multiple sound cards and a gamer level graphics card, 4-8 gigs of ram and at least a 500 gig hardrive….hey - I’m a meat and potatoes and heavy horsepower guy of guy…..old school…yeah but I also have an eye on the future too….what about you truckstar? Do you have mobile internet in the cab of your truck yet? And not just on your cell phone either…..I like the new Sony Z Series mini laptops….and the service after the sale is really good, some say the best….whatever you need now - plan for it to become a reality… check out this link to what I feel is one of the best trip planner programs going – it’s called PC* Miler - http://www.alk.com/pcmiler/

Don’t forget about abused kids…..they really need heroes….I know….

That’s it for this week truckstars!If you’re a prayin’ person, Please pray for our nation, the world and the lost…REMEMBER – No load and NO paycheck is worth dyin’ for….. Don’t forget! I love ya and I’m prayin’ for ya!So play nice, drive safe and pull it on home………

Saddle up…..let’s ride!……you’re on the road with the original florida kid…we gown…..

I do receive free review copies (solicited and unsolicited) from publishers and authors. Some of these books are reviewed or discussed on my site, and a few are even chosen as our Book of the Week–but most unsolicited titles are not. You can read more about the FTC’s updated guidelines for endorsements here.